Are you mindful of your diet, maintaining low calorie intake, and engaging in extensive cardio?
If that's the case, it's understandable to be disappointed if the anticipated results from your hard work aren't materializing.
You might even feel resigned, attributing the lack of progress to being in your 40s, 50s, or whichever phase of life you're in. For those who remember the era of aerobics classes (aging myself here!) relishing the intense workouts, the rush of endorphins, and the exhilaration of loud music and collective enthusiasm, this message resonates with you.
Remember those step workouts? I LOVED them and still do!
Indeed, I was part of that crowd, even leading aerobics classes in my thong leotard. Oh, the 80s! The stories I could tell! ;)
For a long time, many believed that the secret to achieving their desired appearance and feeling was solely through burning calories during exercise and consuming fewer calories.
It seemed necessary to spend hours on treadmills and cardio machines, vigilantly watching the calorie count, right? Wrong.
Research indicates that this is not the most effective method for achieving fitness, health, and strength.
ESPECIALLY as we enter midlife!
All that fun stuff might have worked in our 20's and 30's but you may already be finding that in our 40's and beyond, we need a NEW plan!
INTERVAL TRAINING VS. ENDURANCE TRAINING
A notable study compared interval training with endurance training, revealing that over 20 weeks, the endurance group burned a total of 28,661 calories, whereas the interval group burned only 13,614 calories, less than half.
Despite this, the interval group saw a ninefold greater decrease in subcutaneous fat than the endurance group, even after adjusting for energy cost (Tremblay, Simoneau, and Bouchard 1994).
This indicates that calorie burn alone doesn't fully capture the benefits of exercise.
In reality, every hour of cardio and every calorie cut during your 20s and 30s has accumulated, necessitating a shift in your exercise approach to rebuild.
Aging doesn't necessarily make exercise harder; it's the cumulative effect of years spent seeking a "magic pill" for fitness.
This pill might have been the latest cardio trend, a fasting fad, or a restrictive diet.
And for fad diets or quick fixes it may have led you to a loss of lean muscle, and simply adding more cardio won't recover it—in fact, it might exacerbate the issue.
MORE THAN WALKING
Aerobics, walking, spinning, or the latest cardio craze often becomes the go-to exercise for women in their 40s and beyond, simply because it's familiar.
Intense strength training sessions are seldom a priority for women over 40. "I'm too old for that," one woman confessed to me.
During a photo shoot for a women's fitness magazine, a model was filmed walking, embodying happiness, strength, and confidence for the cover shot. An observer remarked that it resembled an image suitable for another magazine targeting women aged 35 to 54.
Indeed, a quick look through that publication reveals a predominance of images depicting women walking.
This observation was an eye-opener. It became clear that the fitness advice in magazines for those 35 and older vastly differs from that for younger women.
After 35, the implication is that walking suffices as your exercise regimen.
But you're considered old by then. Excuse my French, but I reject that notion!
Why not step up your workout game as you approach 40 by lifting more, jumping higher, and learning new skills? It’s up to you what your 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond look like.
Maintaining an active lifestyle is recommended, especially as we grow older and tend to lead more sedentary lives. Tracking daily activity, including ample walking, is an excellent way to ensure consistent movement. The adage 'use it or lose it' holds true.
While walking is beneficial, relying solely on cardiovascular exercise without incorporating strength training can lead to increased weakness, more frequent injuries, and a slower metabolism as one ages.
In fact, going overboard by doing too much traditional cardio can create hormonal issues, sleep problems, and overtraining symptoms.
(That is definitely not something you need while you’re already navigating perimenopause and menopause.)
WHERE CARDIO FITS
Cardiovascular exercise can be integrated into an "pro-aging" workout regimen.
The benefits of cardiovascular health are well-known but if cardio isn't your preference, there's no obligation to include it.
Committing to 3 x full-body strength training programs two or three times a week should be your top priority for aging strongly with a healthy body composition and robust cardiovascular health.
Research published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology indicates that a strength circuit comprising just 12 sets can raise excess post-oxygen consumption (EPOC) for 38 hours post-exercise (Schuenke, Mikat, and McBride 2002).
An elevated EPOC for 38 hours means your metabolism and calorie expenditure remain high for nearly two days following your workout, offering benefits that extend well beyond the exercise session itself.
This implies that the focus shifts from calories burned during the workout to a strength training session that boosts your metabolism for the subsequent days.
Should you choose to engage in running, cycling, hiking, or any other aerobic activity for enjoyment, feel free to incorporate it, but keep strength training as the central element.
Doing cardio at an intensity that doesn't overtax your system can aid in recovery.
It's recommended to perform cardio at less than 75 percent of your maximum heart rate to facilitate active recovery. Overexerting yourself can lead to muscle loss and reduced recovery capacity, impacting your subsequent strength training sessions.
HIGH-INTENSITY INTERVALS
If you're considering incorporating cardio, high-intensity metabolic interval-style cardio sessions once or twice a week can be highly effective for boosting metabolism, enhancing cardiovascular health, and increasing strength.
Metabolic interval workouts that can complement strength training sessions are recommended two or three times a week.
A 2017 review study compared high-intensity interval training (HIIT) with moderate-intensity continuous training (Wewege et al., 2017).
Both improved body composition, but HIIT required 40% less training time, a significant factor for busy individuals seeking quick results.
A 2019 study in the journal Menopause found that postmenopausal obese women reduced body fat in a third of the time with HIIT compared to aerobic exercise (Buckinx & Aubertin-Leheudre, 2019).
It also indicated that strength training is necessary to build muscle strength, as HIIT alone is not sufficient. Cardio should complement, not replace, strength training.
Furthermore, a pivotal study in the Journal of Physiology in October 2022 provided evidence that preserving muscle tissue with age relies almost exclusively on training fast-twitch fibers through strength and power development, as well as HIIT (Grosicki, Zepeda, & Sundberg, 2022).
The study's abstract states, "Lifelong aerobic exercise training cannot prevent most decrements in fast fiber contractile function, implicated as a primary cause for age-related loss in whole-muscle power output."
Strength training is crucial for anti-aging, and if you're to choose one type of cardio for optimal results in minimal time, HIIT would be the recommendation.
CONCLUSION
Whether you choose to tackle an obstacle course race and master the various challenges, or engage in golf, pickleball, cycling, or any sport you enjoy, select an activity that is enjoyable, rather than one solely for burning calories.
The strength you build by following a strength focused workout program that incorporates cardio but doesn't solely rely upon it will enhance your enjoyment of any activity.
Regardless of your goal, always incorporate strength training at least twice a week to augment your other training and sports activities.
As one client expressed, "It's an essential way of life."
If you find yourself favoring walking or another steady-state cardiovascular exercise, consider that your time could be more effectively utilized by engaging in a comprehensive strength training regimen.
It might require more effort, but the rewards greatly surpass any other activity you could dedicate your time to.
Then use walking to smell the roses, watch the clouds the roll by and relax rather than use it for "weight loss".
Here's to aging strong,
Julie xo
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